Tarsar Marsar Trek

Day 1: Arrive Srinagar — Drive to Aru (2,400m)

• Drive Distance: ~95 km | 3–3.5 hours via Pahalgam.
• Arrive at Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport, Srinagar. Transfer to hotel for gear check and trek briefing with your Summit Routes guide.
• Drive south through the Jhelum Valley to Pahalgam, then follow the Lidder River upstream to Aru — a quiet meadow village at 2,400m that serves as the southern trailhead for the Tarsar Marsar crossover.
• Aru sits in the Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary alongside the confluence of the main Lidder and its tributaries. The meadows above the village are used seasonally by Bakarwal shepherds moving their flocks between the valley and the high summer pastures.
• Afternoon free — acclimatise, explore the Aru meadow, or watch the Lidder flowing past. Our kitchen crew sets up camp.
• Overnight: Camp at Aru.

Day 2: Trek Aru to Lidderwat (3,175m)

• Trek Distance: ~10 km | 5–6 hours.
• The trek begins on a well-worn trail following the Lidder River upstream through a corridor of towering Himalayan pine and deodar. The forest is dense and the air cool even in the height of summer. This is an easy first day by design — the gradient is gentle and the trail largely flat, allowing the lungs to adjust without stress.
• Pass the small settlement of Nandekai — a seasonal cluster of Gujjar and Bakarwal households, their corrugated-metal roofed huts incongruous against the cathedral pines. Horses and ponies graze freely on the grassy margins of the trail.
• Lidderwat is a broad meadow at 3,175m where the Lidder Valley forks: one branch leads toward Kolahoi Glacier, the other toward Shekhwas and the lakes above. Our route takes the latter tomorrow. The meadow has a Forest Rest House and the confluence of two streams, making it the finest camping ground of the lower trek.
• Overnight: Camp at Lidderwat.

Day 3: Trek Lidderwat to Shekhwas (3,400m)

• Trek Distance: ~6 km | 4–5 hours.
• Leave the main Lidder River and turn west up the Tarsar tributary valley. The trail climbs steadily through mixed forest before emerging onto the first of the high meadows above the treeline — wide, rolling, green in summer, swept by a cold breeze that carries the smell of glacial meltwater.
• The gradient steepens on the approach to Shekhwas. Look north for the first views of the ridgeline separating the Lidder and Sundarsar basins — the wall you will cross on Day 5.
• Shekhwas is a high-altitude shepherd encampment at 3,400m, used seasonally as a summer pasture. Wide camping platforms on the meadow floor, clean streams, and uninterrupted views of the valley below make it one of the most pleasant campsites on the route. Marmots are almost always visible on the boulder fields above the camp in the mornings.
• Overnight: Camp at Shekhwas.

Day 4: Trek Shekhwas to Tarsar Lake (3,780m)

• Trek Distance: ~5 km | 4–5 hours.
• The trail to Tarsar gains altitude steadily from Shekhwas, crossing open ridges and grassy saddles before the final descent into the Tarsar basin. The approach is designed as a tease — the lake remains hidden until the last ridge, then reveals itself in one uninterrupted view as you step over the lip.
• Tarsar Lake at 3,780m is almond-shaped, roughly a kilometre long, and a shade of blue-green that shifts from turquoise to cobalt as the light changes across the day. Kolahoi Peak (5,425m) — the highest peak in Kashmir — frames the northern skyline above the lake. Wildflowers cover the meadow bowl surrounding the water: yellow primulas, blue gentians, and carpets of white anemone.
• Arrive by midday if possible. The afternoons at Tarsar are spent doing very little — walking the shoreline, watching the sky move over the lake, listening to the streams. This is the campsite most trekkers remember longest.
• Overnight: Camp at Tarsar Lake.

Day 5: Trek Tarsar to Sundarsar (3,850m) via Tarsar Pass

• Trek Distance: ~5 km | 4–5 hours.
• Cross the Tarsar Pass — a direct 300m ascent from the lake’s eastern shore to the ridgeline above. The climb is steep and unrelenting for about an hour, but the views from the top stop all discomfort immediately: Tarsar lies below on one side, an almond of turquoise; the Sundarsar basin opens on the other, a longer, flatter meadow valley leading northward.
• The descent to Sundarsar is initially gravelly and loose, then opens into broad meadow. The contrast between the two sides of the pass is stark — the Tarsar side is green and vibrant; the Sundarsar approach is higher, more austere, and often holds patches of snow into late July.
• Sundarsar Lake at 3,850m is smaller and quieter than Tarsar — a perfect oval of deep water ringed by flat meadow on its south shore and steep boulder-strewn slopes above. The sense of remoteness here is total. Marsar is visible from the high ground to the southwest — a dark bowl on the skyline. Tomorrow you go there.
• Overnight: Camp at Sundarsar.

Day 6: Trek Sundarsar to Sonmasti (3,400m) via Marsar Lake (4,010m)

• Trek Distance: ~9 km | 6–7 hours. Hardest day of the trek.
• Depart early — this is the most demanding day of the crossover and requires a full morning of clear weather for the Marsar traverse and Sonmasti descent.
• From Sundarsar, a ridge on the southwest shore leads up to Marsar. The trail climbs on boulders and loose rock for 45 minutes to a saddle — and then Marsar Lake appears below. At 4,010m, Marsar occupies a steep-sided glacial cauldron, its water a deep greenish-blue that looks cold even in August. The lake has no gentle shoreline — the walls drop steeply into the water on three sides. It earns its austere reputation. Spend time here; very few people ever stand on this ridge.
• From the Marsar ridge, the trail turns north and northwest onto the Sonmasti Pass approach. The pass sits at 4,100m and is reached after a sustained 300m climb from the Marsar basin on a trail that alternates between snow patches and exposed rock. The summit of the pass is the watershed — behind you, the Lidder drainage; ahead, the Sind.
• The descent into the Sonamasti Valley is one of the most dramatic moments of the trek. The valley drops in a series of steep meadow terraces, each one fed by snowmelt streams that gather into larger streams and cascade off the next ledge as waterfalls visible from the trail above. The drop from pass to valley floor — over 600m — is accomplished in a sequence of short, steep descents separated by flat meadow platforms.
• Camp at Sonmasti, a broad valley floor at 3,400m in the upper Sind drainage, with running water, flat ground, and — after the day’s demands — an extraordinary sense of having crossed from one world into another.
• Overnight: Camp at Sonmasti.

Day 7: Trek Sonmasti to Surfraw (2,150m) — Drive to Srinagar

• Trek Distance: ~15 km | 5–6 hours. Drive: ~2.5 hours Sumbal to Srinagar.
• The final day is a long, sustained descent through the Sind Valley — one of the most enjoyable days of the trek precisely because the altitude is behind you, the legs are strong, and the landscape becomes progressively more lush as you lose height.
• From Sonmasti, the trail follows the Sonamasti stream down through a sequence of meadows, crossing the stream on wooden and stone bridges, passing through the seasonal shepherd settlements of the upper Sind corridor. Pine forest closes in as you drop below 3,000m — the smell of resin and warm earth replacing the cold mineral scent of the high meadows.
• The trail reaches Surfraw, the last village before the motorable road, at approximately 2,150m. Vehicles meet the group here. A short drive to Sumbal — the main road junction at the mouth of the Sind Valley — and then the highway runs west to Srinagar.
• Arrive Srinagar by late afternoon. Hotel check-in. The trek is complete.
• Overnight: Hotel in Srinagar.

Day 8: Departure from Srinagar

• Transfer to Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport for onward travel.
• Direct flights connect Srinagar to Delhi (1.5 hrs), Mumbai, and several other Indian cities. Check-in is a minimum of 2 hours before departure at Srinagar airport.